Online Video Advertising

7 min read·Dec 20, 2022

Get to know online video advertising, why it's important to use in your marketing mix, and how to get started with Vibe.co to leverage online advertising to attract, convert, and retain customers.

What is online video advertising?

Online video advertising, also known as digital video advertising, is promotional content for a product or service delivered in a video format. Distinct from traditional TV advertising, online video advertising plays on digital and social channels, like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or before, during or after streaming content. The latter is what we call CTV Advertising, or OTT Advertising.

Video advertising on Social media

Social media advertising refers to ads placed on social media services, such as Facebook, Instagram or Tik Tok. It’s a great way to promote your products/services to a selected audience, based on demographic criteria or interests. Either placed in the audience’s feed or in “stories,” video ads can be displayed in different formats. Vertical or portrait-mode videos are more and more common, especially on mobile.

With the pandemic, when in-person events and experiences were put on pause, live video also emerged as a key way for brands to connect with consumers. It has since transformed the possibilities when it comes to “streamable” content. Live videos are used by influencers, brands, artists and range from low- to high-budget productions. Consumer demand for lives is growing.

CTV and OTT advertising: broadcasting your video Ads through streaming services

  • CTV advertising – “Connected TV Advertising” refers to advertising broadcast through any device that is connected to the internet and is designed to support streaming multimedia content. The devices supporting this type of content can be, for example, television (so-called “smart TVs”), smartphones, tablets, laptops etc.).
  • OTT Advertising – “Over-the-top” advertising refers to the content that is being advertised directly to viewers through online streaming video services or devices, such as connected TV (CTV). Unlike traditional TV broadcasting, OTT advertising allows advertisers to reach a more targeted audience and increase engagement from users across various channels.

Why you should you use Online Video Advertising in your Marketing Strategy

Video advertising is among the most popular ways for businesses of all sizes to reach online audiences. Users and consumers are susceptible to this increasingly relevant advertising medium. It's a dynamic medium that easily engages prospects and clients across various digital channels, and it does so on a deeper level than static ads. It can educate consumers, increase brand awareness, generate sales, drive app installs and even drive traffic and attract customers to your stores.

Some experts predict that the 5G will make video advertising even more relevant and beneficial. Additionally, search engines are prioritizing digital video content, tweaking algorithms to rank pages that feature videos higher up in their results.

However, digital video ads are not necessarily a guaranteed win for marketers; statistics indicate that consumers respond well to video ads they perceive to be relevant and valuable. Video placement also matters to consumers, and should feel minimally disruptive. It is therefore essential to understand how digital video advertising works to best leverage its potential.

Reach your audience

Video content is catchy; it grabs users’ attention across various digital channels. Thanks to music, camera angles, dialogue and other details, digital video advertising is an ideal way to transmit a lot of information and tell a story about a brand or products, in a relatively short format, and in a memorable way. Video advertising also allows you to address users’ pain points and show off the USPs of your product or service in a more immersive way. When people tune into digital video advertising, brand awareness increases, all with the push of a button.

Attract new prospects

As an engaging, easily shareable medium, digital video advertising is an effective way to get more eyes on your product and services. It encourages customers and prospects to share the video content, especially if it’s optimized for mobile in terms of format and length. Engaging, interesting content ranks higher on social media and reaches a larger audience overall. If users who view an online video share it with their network or followers, this can increase the reach of your video ad exponentially.

Convert your prospects into customers

Through effective online video advertising, you can attract and convert prospects. Using a call to action (CTA) can encourage people to buy your product or services directly after viewing your video. Video ads can bring more context and emotional connection than a static or text-based ad, and therefore create more chances of a user clicking on a CTA. Major online marketplaces, like Amazon and eBay, claim that adding a video ad to a simple product description can increase the chances of a shopper purchasing the item by up to 35%.

  • 4 billion videos are watched on YouTube every day
  • 86% of businesses used videos for marketing in 2021
  • Consumers are more than 2x as likely to share video as other types of content.
  • A consumer survey shows that 84% of consumers were compelled to purchase a product or service after watching a video.
  • A Renderforest Survey found that videos helped businesses increase:
    Brand awareness by 70%
    Traffic by 51%
    Sales by 34%

Start creating your online video advertising campaign

Vibe App: a simple way to build your OTT advertising campaigns

  • Campaign goal setting: set the objectives for your video campaign (brand awareness, traffic, conversion…)
  • Audience targeting and retargeting: identify your target market and start creating retargeting strategies
  • Budget definition and bidding: define the budget of your campaign and determine your campaign bidding strategy
  • Video Ad Creation: choose your video format and create stunning content
  • Ad performance measurement: choose and track your KPIs in the most effective way to measure the performance of your marketing strategy

Get started with Vibe

Best practices to create effective Video Ads

The content of your online video advertising campaign is, of course, up to you, however in terms of form, some of the best practices include:

  • Making sure the videos are clear: It’s important to come up with an idea or concept that highlights a specific and clear message about your brand, your products or your services. You should think about writing an accurate, informative synopsis, possibly even transcribing some of the main ideas from the video.
  • Be sure that your video provides viewers with an answer to why?, as in why you, why your brand, why your product? And finally, have a clear CTA so that your viewers can take action immediately.
  • Make the first few seconds count (remember those short consumer attention spans) and hook your audience from the get go.
  • Timing is everything, so try to find the optimal video length for your needs and viewers. The majority of video ads online are just 30 seconds, but you can determine what works best for your needs.
  • Using social proof: This can help build trust and credibility between your brand and the audience, not to mention increase conversions. 50% of customers find testimonial videos useful. Think about including likes, votes or views.
  • Maximizing reach and impact: Engage with viewers by asking questions or soliciting opinions. Consider paid promotion options via digital channels like Facebook or YouTube to reach a larger, targeted audience. Remember to include online video as part of your overall marketing strategy, and to link to your videos from your other content (blog, webpages, podcasts, etc.).
  • Optimizing videos for sharing: You want people to watch your videos and share them. That means not only ensuring that your video is clear, catchy and creative, but also that it’s easy for viewers to pass along. Include clear CTAs, define an optimal publishing schedule (for maximum viewership), and offer incentives for sharing. Find the length of video that works best for you and your viewers. And thank your viewers at the end of the video. It shows sincerity and can increase retention rates.
  • Analyzing your video campaign performance: Measuring the impact of your video advertising is key. Consider using YouTube Analytics and/or Google Analytics to track video performance and get insights into views, traffic sources, total watch time, etc.

By following the best practices and trends outlined above, you can create video ads that attract and engage your audience.

Creating videos for online video advertising can be facilitated by various tools and services to help you optimize, plan, publish and promote your online video content.

Get started with Vibe TV

Create your first online video advertising campaign today.
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